


Kick Off!

by Jigeumun



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra) - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Football, Football | Soccer, Glimbow, Internalized Homophobia, Minor Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Minor Kyle/Rogelio/Lonnie (She-Ra), Minor Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Minor Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra), Minor Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra), Mostly Fluff, Multi, Mutual Pining, Rebels United vs The Horde FC, RepKylonnie are a polycule, Scorpia is a theatre kid, Sexual Tension, Shadow Weaver is manipulative, Soccer, Useless Lesbians, catradora, friends to rivals to lovers, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25470766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jigeumun/pseuds/Jigeumun
Summary: Catra and Adora had everything they wanted. They had dreams, they had each other, and they were talented soccer players. They were going to win the cup together, making history. But then Adora got a transfer offer from the best team in the country, Rebels United, and things became never the same./Catradora soccer au/
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	1. We were gonna conquer the world together

And the cup was being raised to the sky, in the hands of Adora Weaver, team captain of The Horde FC’s U21 team, also the player with the most assists. But after some photos got taken, she handed the cup to her best friend Catra. “You should hold it too.” She said when she saw the hesitation in her eyes.

To be honest, it wasn’t like Catra didn’t want to hold the cup but it was too soon for her. Probably Shadow Weaver would rather Adora hold the cup longer. Or maybe she wouldn’t since she wasn’t really fond of her playing football. But one thing for sure, she’d hate the fact that Catra stealing Adora’s moment. And this thought only encouraged Catra more. This wasn’t about her, at least not yet since she started to work with the main team a few years ago. Catra accepted Adora’s offer, with the biggest smile on her face. That was it, the whole thing was about them, their dreams, their hard work. Not some bitch having hatred towards a young girl, for no reason. 

“You guys were really awesome!” After the match, they encountered Kyle, a speaker from The Horde TV in the halls. “Everybody knows you’ll be promoted to the main team which means…” He stopped for a while to create an exciting moment. “Which means you two will be my guests on the show!” Kyle clapped, giggling. 

Catra and Adora hadn’t had any solid conversation with him before so they’d bet if his always-energetic and friendly self was only an act. But now seeing him up close, talking in an even more friendly way they were convinced that it’s his real self. And as if it was contagious, they couldn’t help but giggled as well. “Yeah, I guess?” Adora said awkwardly as if she suddenly remembered something, her smile fading. 

The guy checked his watch, “Uh I gotta go…The main team’s match is almost over. They probably lost so I have to cheer up my girl- sister friend Lonnie! Haha yeah, friend only.” Now the girls’ first impressions were changing with Kyle’s weird behavior. And then some tall guy appearing in the hall didn’t help with the situation either. “Hey bab- babooshka! Is my favorite Kate Bush song. And this is my bo- bro friend, best friend Rogelio. So goodbye!” He ran towards the tall guy, apparently named Rogelio. 

“He is a weirdo.” Catra said, grabbing Adora’s hand. “I’m so tired. Can you play with my hair so that I can sleep?” Although it was a question, she was already pulling Adora with her. Well, her best friend wasn’t going to say no after all. 

“Of course.” Said Adora, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible. Her eyes were fixed on their hands. Her stomach wasn’t really feeling well but Catra didn’t need to know why at least not yet. Well, she was clueless about so many things. Some things that Adora has been trying to bury and some other things that Adora eventually will have to face. 

***

“We will be live in five minutes!” warned Rogelio. Turns out he was not just some friend of Kyle, but someone also working on The Horde TV. He checked the camera before him as the intro of the _Horde Inside_ started. 

Catra took a deep breath, collecting her words. It was probably the first time she felt this nervous. Her thoughts were all over the place. She decided to think about how dumb and boring the intro is, in order to relax. Probably everyone would be skipping that long-ass intro about The Horde FC history.

_Ten years ago Hordak Prime, the son of Horde Prime, came to our city and bought an amateur football club called Fright Zone Warriors. Fright Zone was a totally irrelevant team back then. But Hordak Prime invested on the team and changed its name to the Horde FC. With the help of professional coaches and-_

She smiled to herself. This was her favorite part. Hordak wanted to impress his angry daddy, that’s why he bought the club but then he ran out of money so he couldn’t hire a professional coach. For the youth team, he hired a jobless woman who played for the Mystacor FC and the Fright Zone when she was young. Well, her already bad football career went total downhill once she got seriously injured. She couldn’t play again. She was so poor and down with every job she could get. So she accepted Hordak Prime’s job offer and became the head coach of The Horde’s youth team. That was how Catra met Shadow Weaver and her step-daughter Adora. _Adora._ Now she was feeling bad again. 

_Hordak Prime’s brilliant vision led to a successful project: The Great Generation! Thanks to him, poor kids living in Fright Zone and the orphans had a chance to have a sports career…_

Yeah, he adopted talented kids like Catra totally out of his goodness. _What a bullshit._ Catra would rather be adopted by someone who loved her, not trying to benefit her. Well, Shadow Weaver wasn’t really a perfect mother either but at least she adopted Adora because she was a cute child, not because she saw Adora as a future money maker. 

_A few years later the success came. The Horde FC has been competing in the super league with the main goal of avoiding relegation for the past three years…_

Everyone would skip this part, it was so boring. Catra and Adora used to do so. And now Catra was the guest, not the kid just watching. And Adora wasn’t with her since she was an asshole who chose to betray their dreams. 

“Today I have a young player with me. Last year with the U21, she was the most scorer player of the team and now she’s promoted to the main team!” Kyle’s voice separated Catra from her bittersweet thoughts. Her lips formed a confident smile as she slowly nodded his words. “So, Catra how do you feel about being a part of the main team?” 

There were so many cameras in the studio and now that she was the focus of Kyle’s question, all of them were pointing at her. It took a few seconds before Catra could answer, maintaining her confidence. “I’m honored to be a part of it. And I can guarantee that this year will be different.”

_“…this year will be different. We will be successful, our fans can trust us!” Thirteen years old Adora said, with one hand on her chin. “What do you think?” Catra smiled at her excited best friend._

_“Yeah, that’s cool. This will be our speech when we finally make it into the team.”_

“We will be the champion. Our fans can trust us, no more staying in the bottom. This year is the year that The Horde will rise.” She didn’t have to use that lame speech Adora created. That was humble, low, weak. But these were far from the feelings inside the young girl. She was furious, ambitious, and confident. And she meant every single word that left her lips. _I’ll kick your rich team, Adora._

Unfortunately, the people in the studio seemed to disagree. They were holding themselves so hard not to break into laughter. Even Kyle had a mocking smile on his stupid face. “Well, so we can count on you.” His voice was saying the opposite. But Catra was determined to change this. 

***

“Championship, ha?” Catra didn’t need to lift her head to know the source of the voice. She could recognize this ugly voice everywhere. Plus, her mockery was always on another level, at least to Catra. 

“Yes, Shadow Weaver. I’m gonna make this garbage team win the cup despite your incompetence.” She stood up this time, not wanting to miss Shadow Weaver’s expression. Luckily, she could catch a moment of humiliation before her lips curled into a smugly smile. 

“Oh honey,” She gently caressed the young girl’s cheek. “You are a part of this garbage team. You’ll be never as good as Adora. That’s why she got an offer from the best team in our country. Not you.” 

Catra grabbed her hand, throwing death glares. “Why did you let her go? You never wanted her to be like you nor me! You always wanted to put her in girly dresses, not soccer uniforms. Now she’ll never be back, she’ll be free. You think you won? You lost her!” _I lost her._ And it was also Adora’s fault. She made her choice. She forgot about their promise. Catra was going to prove everyone wrong, she was going to show everyone what she was capable of. 

“I didn’t lose her. You lost her.” Although Catra said this to herself just a few seconds ago, she couldn’t help but startled with Shadow Weaver’s sudden attack. “That’s a double win situation for me. She loves me because I let her go. But that place is tougher than here. She’ll be caught up in ruthless competition. It’s not easy to keep going in the best team in the country. She’ll lose her interest in football once she saw the real world, the world that doesn’t have my protective wings.” Her annoying smile was still on her face, showing her endless confidence. Catra wanted Adora to be successful for a second, only to prove Shadow Weaver wrong. But yeah, this didn’t last long since she still hated Adora and she needed her to be a failure so that she, herself, could be a legend. “Also, in that side of the city…You know rich guys live there. Maybe she will meet a handsome guy who’ll steal her heart.” 

Probably it was just her wink that annoyed Catra even more. _I don’t care about who Adora is dating or whatever._ Yeah, it was a powerful wink because Catra was about to explode now. Her blood was boiling inside her. But then Shadow Weaver said such a thing that left Catra in some emotions she couldn’t name. “She’ll find a man and will totally forget about you. You’ll be no longer a distraction to her… I know _what_ you are. You won’t be able to infect Adora.” Now she was laughing, probably at how clueless Catra was. “She must be with her new friends now.” Suddenly her tone changed to almost a motherly one, although her words were still harsh. “She didn’t call you, did she? But she called me. She was so happy. She is happy without you Catra. Just do your job and forget about Adora.” She patted the young girl’s shoulder in a comforting manner before heading towards outside. 

Catra didn’t even feel her touch or realize that she was gone now. Shadow Weaver’s words echoed in her brain. _I know what you are._ It would be nice if Catra knew too. Her eyes traveled around the room as if the answer was somewhere in here. But instead, she saw a picture of herself with her ex-best friend, badly drawn by Adora, a few years ago. 

_“No matter what happens, we’ll stay together. I know Shadow Weaver is hard on you but you are a fantastic forward. You’ll always be a part of this team. She won’t waste your talent. And I’ll be here too. Ten years later, we’ll become The Horde Legends winning every cup possible.”_ That was what she said until she was scouted by Etheria’s best team Rebels United. Then she got a transfer offer and she didn’t even tell Catra about this, probably made fun of her behind her back, saying ‘What a dumb bitch. She really thought I’d waste my talent in this garbage team.’ 

Ever since Adora opened up to Catra about the transfer offer two weeks ago and said that she was considering it, Catra avoided encountering her or having any conversation with her. Well, Adora didn’t try so hard to communicate either. She was ready to go and yesterday she left. Catra watched her packing up stuff from a distance. In each second that passed, she hoped somehow she’d change her mind. But this didn’t happen. Adora left her, just like that. 

Catra reluctantly pulled her phone. Although she was heartbroken, she was still curious about Adora. She thought about calling Adora, apologizing, accepting she over-reacted, and telling her she was happy for her and other stuff. For literal two minutes, she looked at the contact name, her finger ready to touch the screen. But just like Adora didn’t change her mind and left, Catra didn’t call her. Adora was the one who betrayed their friendship, she should be the one apologizing. For the record, Adora apologized multiple times but that wasn’t enough for Catra. She randomly clicked on Instagram. Maybe she shouldn’t have since the first post she saw was from Adora. It was posted a few minutes ago with a caption that says:

_Making new friends!_

She was smiling with many good-looking people around her. Some girls were doing a peace sign, behind her and another one, with pink hair, was hugging her. She spotted two guys as well, both of them smiling to the camera behind the pink-haired girl. _She will find a guy…_ It wasn’t Shadow Weaver’s wink that made Catra uncomfortable, it was the words. Catra hated her words and the picture. She hated Adora. A sarcastic laugh escaped her lips when she remembered she was about to call Adora and apologize to her. She probably wouldn’t give a fuck since she has new friends and possible romantic interests. It’s not like Catra cared, it was just her eyes loved to get teary all of a sudden. 

“Wild cat!” For her eyes’ sake, her new roommate stormed into the room, with her usual cheerfulness. Catra quickly wiped the tears away and put a fake smile on her face. She hated that nickname and also she was feeling weird around this girl. Well, their first encounter wasn’t perfect.

_“I love my dead gay son!” When Scorpia said this, she was randomly passing by Catra and Adora. While also leaving both girls shocked._

_“You have a dead g- son?” Adora asked, purposefully skipping the ‘inappropriate’ word. Catra was still standing beside her, with her eyes widened. The older girl, on the other hand, immediately stopped walking and presented a big smile._

_“Oh no. I was just singing a song. It’s from a musical called Heathers.”_

_Her explanation wasn’t really clear as younger ones still couldn’t really understand the song’s theme. It was weird. Really weird. And the g-word!_

“Fucking Adora…” Did her every memory had to involve Adora? She frowned, though, this didn’t last long when she realized she cursed out loud. Now Scorpia was looking at her with concerned eyes. The big girl soon reached to her, embracing the little one.

“You are sad because your best friend left right? But it’s okay! We are also besties, y’know?” 

Catra pulled herself back, feeling a bit uncomfortable with her affection. Fortunately, Scorpia took the hint and gave her some personal space. “For the record, I don’t care about her.” She said immediately before the other one could say anything.

“Okay then. But you still seem a little bit sad. I know what can cheer you…”   
  
_Good lord, please don’t let it be some dumb musical-  
  
_“Let’s watch Hairspray!” Scorpia shouted, finishing her previous sentence. God never loved Catra anyway.  
  
Scorpia already grabbed her laptop, not giving the other girl a chance to object. In just two minutes or so, the movie started.  
  
For not so surprisingly, Catra hated the movie. What was the point of singing for endless minutes anyway? Plus, she had an argument with Scorpia throughout the whole movie, after she said John Travolta was in the movie. “Where is he? Thirty minutes into the movie and he still hasn’t appeared.” But Scorpia would answer, claiming he had already appeared on the screen. Well, turned out she was right and Travolta played the main girl’s mother. This annoyed her even more. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually this chapter was longer so I divided it into two parts.
> 
> Also quick info on the character ages:
> 
> Catradora are about 19  
> Spinnerella & Netossa are in their early 30s  
> Mara is 35 years old  
> Frosta is 15 and 3 quarters  
> Hordak is 41 and Entrapta is 34  
> Glimbow, Perfuma, Scorpia etc are 20-23 years old


	2. Passive aggressive

Adora’s first day in the Bright Moon was pretty monotone. Actually, she could say the car drive was so much more fun than her actual time in the dorm. In the car, she watched the road, the buildings, and the people. She remembered those times when she was a child. She and Catra would talk about Bright Moon, more like speculating. They would imagine the people living in Bright Moon as spoiled brats. In their head, they were actually starting a war against these rich and reckless people. According to them, sticking with the Horde and kicking Rebels’ butts was like a movement that can write their names in future history books. And while Adora was in the car, she realized their assumptions seemed true. At least the “rich” part. 

Rebels United and Horde FC were teams from the same city, yet, their towns were so different. Fright Zone was dark and fun places like bars, clubs and similar stuff were hard to find there. It was also more conservative, that was probably why those places were not common in the Fright Zone. On the other hand, even the regular houses in the Bright Moon seemed to carry the word “bright”, proudly. They were flamboyant, unlike the plain and humble houses in the Fright Zone. 

Adora loved her home in the Fright Zone. She didn’t have to live in these luxurious buildings but then again, a dream occurred without her permission. She could buy a house after some time and Catra could live with her. While Adora at least had a beautiful bed, thanks to Shadow Weaver, her best friend was living in the Horde dorm. Sometimes, Adora would join her in bed just to play with Catra’s hair so that her best friend could sleep peacefully. Catra would say, _“It’s not because the bed is uncomfortable. It’s just that…You are very relaxing.”_ But Adora Weaver was a very smart person! She knew it was all because the bed was not comfortable. So once she earned enough money to afford a house in Bright Moon, she could make Catra live somewhere better than that ugly dorm room. This idea made her chuckle a bit, only to realize she was not really on good terms with her friend. 

_“Why are you like this? I am sorry that I’m leaving and I’m sorry that I told you about it so late. I just…didn't know how to tell…without hurting you-“ Catra interrupted her sincere apology, yelling._

_“BUT you ended up hurting me more! And oh, if you thought about me that much, you wouldn’t even consider the offer! You broke our promise!” She wasn’t used to fighting with her best friend and it, for sure, felt terrible to raise her voice like that. She could see how hurt Adora seemed but her pride was on the table._

_“I know…I’m sorry. But what would you do if you were in my shoes? Would you-” She had to stop because of a third party entering Catra’s new room._

_“I’m not throwing away my shot, shot!” Scorpia said, melodically. And in Catra and Adora’s situation, this sentence both made great and zero sense. “Oh sorry I was just singing but you are in the middle of something, I suppose?” Welcomed by the young girls’ angry looks, she made her way out._

_“Would you just throw away your shot?” Adora said awkwardly. For the record, this was what she was about to say if Scorpia hadn’t interrupted them. But now that she did, singing that song from God knows which musical, Adora’s words seemed weird._

_“I don’t consider that as a ‘shot’. My career goal was to win cups here, with this shit team,” Catra took a deep breath, “and with you, Adora. I thought we were on the same page but of course…Why would you care about me? I am always the inferior one, right?” Her voice was almost as broken as her heart. She wanted to be happy but those bad thoughts were just taking over her head. ‘Adora will forget about me. She will be gone and I’ll have no friends. She’ll be the best player and I’ll be here competing for to avoid relegation…’ And so many other thoughts poisoned her so bad that for the first time in her life, Adora’s embrace didn’t relax her. Her body was burning with hate and Adora’s hug didn’t put out the fire._

_“I never said you were inferior. I always admired you, you know that! And I’m sorry… Can’t you be happy for me? It was just…playing for the best team and you know…I am a fan of Mara Grayskull ever since I started playing… Catra, it will be her last season before she retires and now I have the chance to play with her.” And there was another thing but Adora didn’t tell her. Something she would never tell. She didn’t even say what that is to herself. She was scared, as if she said it, that thing would become more real. However, Adora wanted the opposite. She wanted that thing to disappear. Her plan was perfect. She’ll be away, that thing will disappear, Catra will forgive her and they’ll be best friends again._

_“Let me go!” Adora only now realized she tightened her grip. She immediately pulled herself back, giving her friend personal space and her cheeks carrying a slight blush. “I am breaking up with you,” Catra said, without realizing what she said could be perceived as something totally…wrong?_

_Adora gasped loudly, her cheeks burning._

_“I mean a friendship break up.”_

_“Of course a friendship break up. What else it would be? Haha.” But then she gasped again, after processing the meaning. “Wait what? I explained my motivations and apologized countless times. But you are still ending our friendship?” Catra nodded calmly or at least trying to do so. “You know what? You are selfish! Fine! Don’t be my friend, if that’s what you want!” She crossed her arms, waiting for her best friend to back off. But instead, Catra ran off, crying._

Adora sighed. 

Maybe Adora was right about the “spoiled brat” part as well since nobody was friendly with her when she got to Bright Moon. Someone showed Adora her room. Then she was all alone from that minute on. She opened her bags, placed her things in her new room. For a moment she stopped, thinking this will be the place she’ll live in until maybe she earns enough money to afford a house. But also the room was big and comfy enough. She wouldn’t mind living here. 

After she was done with her things, she threw herself to the bed, which again was really comfy. She was really tired and the bed was very inviting to sleep. Her eyes slowly closed, only to open suddenly when she heard a buzz. She grabbed her phone. _Maybe it’s her._ It wasn’t _her_ calling, but it was about her. It was just the alarm she set to remind herself about the Horde Inside. _Tomorrow Catra will be the guest_. Even though they were on a friendship break up, Adora would never miss the show. She smiled weakly, feeling proud of her friend. 

***

The next day, Adora’s assumptions were debunked. At least her teammates in the Rebels United weren’t spoiled brats. She was surprised to find out the only reason they left her alone was to let her rest. It was so kind and she felt embarrassed about the way she thought. 

First, Glimmer Queen Kim took her to breakfast. She was one of the forwards and also club chairman Angella Queen & the coach Micah Kim’s daughter. Adora remembered those times, when she first got into the youth team, people would gossip about how she was only a part of the team because she was Shadow Weaver’s daughter. She was curious if people thought the same for Glimmer too. “After breakfast, you’ll have a signing ceremony with Frosta. Are you excited?” Her question interrupted Adora’s thoughts. 

“Yes! Actually, I still can’t believe I even got a transfer offer from Rebels. I’ve always been a fan of Mara Grayskull and now…” She put her hand in her chest as if she was ready to die from a heart attack. Glimmer chuckled at her move. 

“She’s not here yet but the summer camp will start next week so you’ll be able to meet her very soon.” 

Then they entered the cafeteria which was bigger than the one in the Horde. It wasn’t surprising to Adora anymore. Probably everything here was better than the Horde. The whole facility was like a literal palace. “Go sit there, with them. I’ll bring your food!” Glimmer pointed at one of the tables. Then she waved to the people sitting there. And a black guy wearing crop top immediately stood up, probably coming to help her. 

_New people…_ Adora took a deep breath before slowly walking towards the table. She saw these people on tv before, or in person when they had a match with the Horde. Adora would never miss those matches. She would always drag Catra with her to watch. And Shadow Weaver really spent a great deal of money on tickets, thanks to Adora’s love of football. 

“Hi, I’m Adora.” She greeted them shyly. 

“Hi! I’m Perfuma!” The silence was immediately broken up with Perfuma’s sincere greeting. “Nice to meet you!” And then the others introduced themselves. Well, Adora already knew most of them, except for the black guy and the mustache guy. 

“I am Mermista’s manager, Sea Hawk Arson!” The mustache guy said. “We were also highschool sweethearts! But now she loves me even more haha!” Then he leaned to Adora, whispering “I believe she’s gonna ask me to marry her.” 

Mermista nodded his words, seeming embarrassed although she didn’t hear his last words. “Yeah, unfortunately…” 

Adora chuckled at their dynamic. They were really cute. “Here’s your food.” The crop top guy put the food in front of her, kindly. “By the way, I am Bow, Glimmer’s boyfriend. I am also playing for Rebels’ volleyball team.” 

Adora wasn’t really a good follower of other sports. Heck, she didn’t even know Rebels had a volleyball team. “Oh, you must be good!” She said awkwardly. “I don’t really play or watch volleyball though...” 

“Hey, it’s okay! I’m only interested in football because of Glimmer.” Bow said, patting the new girl’s shoulder. “Let’s follow each other on Instagram!” This guy was a literal ray of sunshine. Like the other people, Adora met so far. Now she was feeling a lot more embarrassed about her past thoughts. “What’s your @?” Adora lifted her head to meet so many curious eyes, waiting for her answer. All of her teammates were holding their phones, ready to follow her. 

“Ugh…” In the Horde, Shadow Weaver would let her players follow only each other. No other celebrity or players from other teams. She was especially strict with Adora. The blonde always hated this. “It’s aDoor. D is capital.” She never liked her username and saying it out loud made her cringe. However, she also felt free. She was free from Shadow Weaver’s dumb rules. She made new friends and she was going to meet her idol, Mara Grayskull, very soon. She was having her best time. 

“Done.” They said repeatedly, causing Adora to take her phone and follow them back.

***

After the breakfast, Adora suddenly remembered about Frosta and asked Glimmer about her. “Oh, she woke up so early and had already eaten I guess. She was training while I was coming to pick you up.” 

Adora nodded silently. She was actually amazed by the young girl. She was only fifteen or so and promoted to the professional team. Last year she had a chance to play against her with the Horde U21. Frosta’s ambition was what made her outstanding. She would rarely fall during one to one despite her tiny body. It was a miracle that they were able to win the cup against Rebels U21. But then again, the Horde had Adora and Catra. And Rebels United didn’t have any other outstanding players except for Frosta. 

“Oh, by the way, Spinnerella and Netossa are coming.” Adora saw two women walking towards them, as Glimmer warned her. “Let me introduce you to them before you have to leave for the ceremony.” She said before pulling her. 

Adora was okay with this plan until she saw the older women kissing. She couldn’t help but gasped loudly, which caused Glimmer to stop and look at her with concerned eyes. “Are they…you know?” 

“You aren’t homophobic, are you?” Glimmer lifted one of her eyebrows. She seemed like she was ready to cancel Adora if they were on twitter. “They are a couple. They’ll probably marry this summer.” 

“Oh, I am happy for them! Of course, I don’t have anything against them. Why would I have? I just didn’t know so I got surprised.” Adora was telling the truth, with a tiny bit of a lie. Yes, she didn’t know thanks to Shadow Weaver’s follow ban. And she didn’t hate Spinnerella & Netossa because of _it_ but…

“Good, because this place is everything but straight. They are lesbians. Me, Bow, Mermista, and Sea Hawk are bisexual. Perfuma is pan. So there is no room for hate crimes.” Glimmer made it very clear to Adora, forcing her to face some things without even knowing. _Great._

***

“Look, we are playing in the same position but yeah I can play everywhere in the midfield as well. Anyway, don’t think I won’t be a threat to you, because I’m young and you won against me last year.” Frosta was giving an unexpected speech to Adora, after the signing ceremony when they were alone. “I’ll work so hard for the uniform and I’ll wear it. So be afraid of me!” 

For the past few hours, Adora was highly scared of the Rebels. First, her teammates being queer and now this threat from Frosta. “Okay…” Then she said the first thing came to her mind. “Do you want some chocolate?” 

“No. I’m gonna keep myself fit.” She walked away, while Adora watched her leaving for a few seconds, before turning away and heading over to her room. “Wait! I can eat chocolate one last time…” 

At least she learned Frosta wasn’t that scary and just a very competitive kid. It was a relief. 

***

When Adora finally made it into her room, Shadow Weaver called. And Adora had to tell her how her day was, avoiding the queer parts. Well, she wasn’t in the mood to listen to a long speech about how it’s a cursed thing to be LGBT and how Adora should stay away from that kind of people. 

“How is Catra?” She asked, in order to change the subject. And yeah, she was also genuinely curious. 

“Catra is fine. Actually, she seems very happy. She’s hanging out with Scorpia and Lonnie these days.” Adora was more than happy to hear these words. If she wasn’t angry then Adora could finally fix their friendship. 

“Did she say anything about me?” 

“No. Actually, she seems like she already forgot about you. Whenever I see her, she’s with Scorpia. They are calling each other besties. So you don’t have to worry about her. She’s fine.” 

But this one hurt. It hurt so much that Adora was still thinking about it even after they hung up. _Why am I so hurt over this? I wanted her to move on._ She grabbed her phone, feeling a sudden determination to call her friend. She could call and apologize to her, then ask her if they could hang out some time… But she didn’t. After spending some time, looking at the contact name, she opened Instagram instead. And uploaded a pic she took this morning, with her new friends.

_Making new friends_

***  
  
After two hours of training which she needed in order to clear her mind, she returned to her room and took a quick shower. She didn’t have anything better to do so she opened Instagram again, checked out her last post’s likes. Of course, Catra wasn’t one of them. She scrolled through until she saw her best friend’s post. It wasn’t a picture of herself but a movie poster.

_“Hairspray”_

_I watched this movie today with my best friend @Supercorpia! It was so good but most importantly, I watched it with my friend beside me. I’m so grateful for her presence. It means a lot! She made me laugh and introduced me to this entertaining movie. I wish everyone could have a friend as good as Scorpia._

This must be the most annoying caption Adora has ever seen. She was so annoyed that she threw her phone away. “I don’t care about you either! Go hang out with your new best friend! I’ll hang out with mine too! I even forgot to watch that dumb Horde show!” 

_Oh…_

She forgot to watch the Horde Inside. 

“I don’t care about you either!” This was the sentence she said like a liar, before standing up and searching for her phone. Once she found it, the first app she opened was youtube. She felt relieved when she saw they uploaded the show. 

Of course, she was going to watch. No, she did watch, staying up all night. ‘Cause in the end, she did care. She did care so much. And she knew she had to talk about this to Glimmer or anyone else in the team before her emotions make her go crazy.  
  
  
  
  



	3. Communication is the key

Adora was so proud of the progress she’d made so far. It wasn’t zero. Two weeks ago, after the day she watched the Horde Inside, she called Glimmer. Her new friend was sleepy since it was quite early. “Glimmer! I need your help!” On the other side, Adora’s voice was really energetic even though she hadn’t slept. 

“Adora, what’s the matter?” Adora’s words were a lot more concerning, coming with a loud voice. Glimmer had no choice but to open her eyes wide. 

It took Adora several minutes to find an answer. Actually no, she couldn’t find a decent one. _I think I may be weird but I don’t think I am weird and I don’t want to view THAT thing as weird. So I need your help._ These words didn’t provide a coherent explanation. She stayed silent, regretting she even called Glimmer. Surprisingly, heartbreak and caffeine could make someone forget the internet exists.

_Why did I call her? I could’ve asked google for God’s sake! Google knows everything and I-_

Her internal fight was interrupted by Glimmer’s worried voice, “Adora? Anyway, I’m coming. Just wait.” And she hung up before Adora could protest.

About one hour later, she was standing in front of Adora’s room. And since Adora waited for her, drinking more coffee, she was even sappier when she opened the door. The first thing Glimmer did was examining Adora’s face. “What happened?” 

“I think…I am homophobic.” At least Adora could find something better than her previous thoughts to describe her problem. Basically, she was the problem. 

Glimmer’s eyes went wide with her words. “Oh boy…” But then she frowned. Adora couldn’t tell if she was mad because Adora was homophobic or she called her in the morning because of this. “Well, why am I surprised anyway. You were uncomfortable around Spinnerella and Netossa.”

“Please don’t tell anyone. I want to change. I really don’t have anything against them. I just…”

“Adora okay, sit down.” Her voice sounded a little bit irritated, making Adora even more panic. But the blonde somehow managed to sit down silently, waiting for the short girl to talk. “I’m glad that you want to change. So why are you uncomfortable?” 

Adora’s memories flooded her brain. Countless times of Shadow Weaver cursing about queer people. Adora told her how she was brought up, she was just an orphan. She rarely questioned her stepmother’s morals, rules, words in general. “And…she would say…nobody loves queer people and their friends.” 

“Adora you saw us. Did it look like the way you described?”

The blonde smiled to an idea, suddenly forming in her brain. Her teammates probably were loved by more people than her stepmother. “No. You guys are awesome. I like you, I really do. I am sorry that I felt uncomfortable before.”

And they talked more, Glimmer debunked every dumb idea that Shadow Weaver planted on Adora’s mind. She recommended some books, documentaries, movies, and tv shows which Adora never heard of and this left the short one surprised. Especially the tv shows were pretty popular. On the other hand, she felt sympathetic for the girl, thinking how manipulated she was. Maybe her family wasn’t open-minded, she would have ended up like her too. 

“There is one more thing…” Adora said, biting her lip. _Okay so I think I may be queer but I am not sure because I don’t think I am queer and what is more ridiculous is that…my best friend is the one making me question my sexuality. I always have this feeling of you know…I should protect her ever since we were little children. I’ve always loved playing with her hair, lying beside her. I think I got jealous when she made a new best friend. She hates me and it feels awful and I also try to hate her but I fail. I miss her so much and…_

“Adora?” _But it doesn’t mean I am like that…These are friendly feelings._ “Adora?” 

This time Adora came back to real life, trying to find something to say. Eventually, her comphet won the war and she said something she would regret later.

“I think I need a boyfriend.”

She definitely regretted it later. 

_Mission: Find Adora a boyfriend,_ this was the name of their Whatsapp group chat, doing a great job to shock Adora when she was added a few days later. To her surprise, Rebels United players were very interested in matchmaking stuff. The blonde could’ve never imagined a day that her love life would be discussed by her idol Mara Grayskull. To be fair, she would’ve never imagined even being in the same group chat as her. 

_Mara <3: So Adora, tell us about your ideal type_

The blonde thought for a very long time. And like how it always happens, she once again failed to find a good answer. 

_> I don’t know someone cute? But also strong and ambitious? _

_Sea Hawk: *typing *_

_Spinnerella: *typing*_

_Sea Hawk: *typing*_

Then Sea Hawk’s typing session went on for three more minutes. 

_Spinnerella: Are you planning on finishing so that I can write too?_

_Netossa: Actually, you could’ve said whatever you want instead of roasting Sea Hawk_

_Sea Hawk: Oh, Adora dearie, you totally described me and I am afraid to tell you that there is no other guy like me. Oh, how I wish someone else could’ve seen it too and ask my hand in marriage!!!_

_*Mermista left the group chat *_

_Frosta: Dude just try Tinder_

_Perfuma: Frosta!_

Yeah, it’d been a very busy couple of days. And since Adora rejected every possible love interest candidate, she ended up trying Tinder. “I didn’t like this guy’s beard.” She said, looking at some guy’s pic that showed up. Her ways of looking for a boyfriend may have changed but her attitude didn’t change, obviously. 

“Umm, he can just shave it you know? Plus, it’s not that big of a deal.” Perfuma said while they were resting after training. 

“Oooh, this one’s pretty cool.” The other girls made some noises of approval when Glimmer couldn’t help but swoon over a very handsome guy. He had a poem in his bio. His face was cute, just like how Adora described as her ideal type and he was also muscular. “Look at his body. He must have worked hard to get that. Also, he is cute. He is your ideal type!” Glimmer kept swooning over the guy, waiting for Adora’s answer with hopeful eyes.

The blonde’s brain, on the other hand, was trying to find an excuse. “He must be fake.” And another guy was rejected by Adora Weaver. And she couldn’t see but Mermista was ready to kill her. But she chose to kill the blonde with her words instead. “Dude you sure you like men at all?” She said, groaning.

“Haha of course!” Then she ran away like a guilty person.

***

Days later, still no possible male love interest for Adora. And Rebels players were starting to get bored of their mission. Adora was rejecting people so easily, although she was also in desperation, looking for a boyfriend. This guy has a beard, this one is tall, this one is short, this one loves ice cream. Yes, she literally used the last excuse which was the final straw for others. Still, Glimmer approached her, seeing her play with her phone after they did their last training before tomorrow’s friendly match. 

“What is it, Adora? You, finally, found someone?”

Contrary to her question, Adora’s expressions weren't happy. “Uh no…It’s just a message from my best-“ She stopped for a second. “My ex-best friend.” Her voice sounded even sadder when she finished her sentence. She handed out her phone to Glimmer, expecting the short one to read the message.

_Catra <3: Hey Adora, I’m gonna kick your ass tomorrow._

“So you are afraid that we are going to lose against the Horde?” Obviously, she wasn’t intimidated by the short message. 

“It’s not that…” Now that she thought of it, she was scared by the Horde too. She’s always considered Catra as the best player in the team. “Well, not only that but yeah that too.” 

Glimmer chuckled at her response, making Adora defensive as if she was still playing for the Horde. “Hey, they are good. At least Catra is so good. You may not know her but without her, we couldn’t win the U21 cup last year!”

“Yeah and also our youth team wasn’t good.” 

Glimmer’s position might be forward but she, surely, loved defending as well. 

“No, I am serious. She will be a legendary player in five years. You should see her ambition. She’s hardworking and when she scores…She does that cute little celebration. She calls it dabbing, I guess? I don’t know. She invented that move and then everybody started doing it.” 

The blonde wasn’t even talking to her new best friend anymore. She was looking at somewhere totally ambiguous. 

Glimmer could catch the dreamy sparkles in her eyes. She giggled, causing Adora to pop out of her dream bubble. “Your friend didn’t invent dabbing.” She had another sentence but that one could wait. So she chose shocking Adora with this very important information about dabbing. 

“No, she did! She said she did!” 

“Well anyway, it doesn’t matter who invented it. I’m just glad that that’s a dead trend now.” Glimmer shrugged it off, trying to change the subject. “What else are you scared of?” 

Adora started to play with her fingers, “It’s Catra again.” Glimmer would laugh her ass off if it wasn’t disrespectful. She nodded the blonde, encouraging her to continue. Adora lowered her head, fixating her looks on the ground. “We were really close. Like literally, she was everything to me. We promised that we would never leave each other. And you know what happened, I accepted the offer and left her. Now she hates me and has a new best friend. We haven’t talked ever since and she sent me this message. I am afraid to face her.” 

No answers. Adora lifted her head to find Glimmer smiling to her. It was a very weird smile, similar to Shadow Weaver’s when Adora does something to be proud of. “What?” 

“You should talk to her. And let her know _how you feel._ ” Glimmer said, putting stress on the last three words. “Communication is the key, Adora.”

Glimmer’s wise words helped Adora a lot. In the end, that night in her bed, after thinking of response for an hour, Adora finally sent a message. Communication was the key and Adora was willing to use it!

***

The night before the big match. Actually, it wasn’t that big, considering it’s just a friendly match. To Catra, on the other hand, it meant _friendship match._ She finally had the chance to prove she was better than Adora. Tomorrow she will wait on the bench, probably Adora will wait too. And once Shadow Weaver puts her in the game, she’ll score the goal that makes them win the match. She smiled to herself. She wondered if the blonde responded to the message she’d sent earlier. And as if Adora read her mind, Catra’s phone screen lit up with the notification. And Catra didn’t realize it but her heart skipped a little, opening the message.

_> Hey Adora, I’m gonna kick your ass tomorrow_

_Somebody That I Used To Know: Oh hey Catra! I really hope you do!! Good luck tomorrow!!! <3 _

“Dumbass.” She mumbled, putting her phone down. _How does she manage to make me angry with everything she does? I hate her._ She thought to herself, smiling. Then her brain started analyzing the text. Was she genuine? Did she sincerely put that heart at the end of the sentence? But why would she say those and put that? She must be making fun of her. Catra’s-ready to-self-hate brain concluded that Adora’s message was just sarcasm. In reality, it was just Adora being the dumb jock she is. 

Catra didn’t feel like sleeping now. She stood up, surprised to find Scorpia awake. She was looking at her phone screen like…longingly? Catra couldn’t find the true words to describe the look but she knew she’d never seen Scorpia like that before. “Hey, what are you looking at?” The big girl panicked with the question and dropped her phone which made the whole situation weirder. And it was nice for Catra, this drama could keep her mind away from Adora and the match tomorrow. “Is it porn?” 

“No-It’s-“ She stood up, trying to pick her phone.

“Let me see!” Catra decided to play along, making her move to grab Scorpia’s phone. It was a very bad idea as both of them ended up falling on their butts in the end. “Oh-“ But on the other hand, she could see the phone screen. “Isn’t this girl from Rebels? And how can you even follow her on Instagram? Isn’t it banned?” And she bombarded the big girl with questions. 

Scorpia stood up before answering. “Yes, she is Perfuma. And I created a fake account to follow her. And before you ask why…because…” 

“Because you have a crush on her?” Catra completed Scorpia’s sentence, leaving the girl shocked. “Dude don’t look at me like that.” She couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “You radiate big gay energy. Plus, I know someone is in love, only by looking at their eyes.” She said confidentially. 

Scorpia inhaled and exhaled a couple of times, seeming relieved now. “I am just surprised that you could educate yourself despite…Shadow Weaver’s homophobia. I mean you spent more time with her than I did. And your best friend is literally her daughter.” 

_Ah, Adora again. Of course, I can’t have one conversation that does not include her._ “I never listen to her. And also I don’t give a fuck about who loves who. All I know is I don’t love like I’m not capable of romantic love but I can see it in other people’s eyes.” She said, avoiding mentioning the blonde. 

“So are you aro?” 

That was something Catra never thought of. She never thought of romantic love too. Maybe she loved someone but then again what was love? She could see the love in other people’s eyes, but she never saw it in her own eyes. To be exact, she could never see it. What was love? “I don’t know I never thought of it. How did you understand you liked Perfuma?” 

Scorpia chuckled, thinking of the first time she saw Perfuma. “Well, it was love at first sight. Last year, my first match with the Horde…I was sitting on the bench. And she was too. I mean yeah, I saw her before on tv but didn’t really pay attention. But that day…It was our first meeting in real life. She was so pretty. She also tackled a lot, won so many balls. Long story short, they won the match 5-0 and she was all I could think about.” 

After the long story short part, Catra’s mood fell hard. “And how was your performance that match?” 

Contrary to her disappointment, Scorpia replied with a cheerful tone. “Oh I didn’t play that day, just watched it on the bench.” Yes, it was such a letdown. 

Catra grunted. “Anyway, I am thinking of making a smooth foul to her. So that I can have an excuse to talk to her after the match. What do you think about my plan?” 

“Your desperation killed my mood. I’m gonna sleep.” 

She still wasn’t sleepy but she had to sleep and wake up energetic tomorrow. "Scorpia, can you play with my hair please? I... Sometimes can't sleep unless someone plays with my hair... It's relaxing me."

"Of course, wild cat." 

And she did. But it didn't feel like _someone else's_ touch. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So actually the match was going to happen this chapter but I am so tired and it's already longer than I intended so I decided to post it and save the match for the next chapter. Who do you think is going to win the match? The Horde FC or Rebels United?


	4. "Friendship" match

_“You’ll wait for me on the bench, right? You’ll never go somewhere I can’t see you. You’ll just watch and won’t interact with the kids.” Shadow Weaver had been warning little Adora ever since last night._

_Adora’s babysitter took a day off and although Shadow Weaver didn’t want to bring the blonde to training with her, she couldn’t find any other person to take care of the kid. Not so surprisingly, the woman didn’t have many friends. That was the reason why she adopted Adora in the first place, she wanted a friend._

_“Of course, Shadow Weaver.” And Adora was a very smart kid. She would never break the rules and Shadow Weaver was glad for that. She would never want Adora to be a football player like herself. Football was dangerous and dirty. One serious injury and your football career was over. It was also hard to succeed. And there were lesbians. Shadow Weaver always regretted playing football but she was also glad that she didn’t turn gay, seeing all the closeted homosexuals. She wouldn’t let Adora go through the same things._

_If Adora hadn’t broken the rules for the first time._

_But it was hard to blame the kid. In her eyes, she had to wait for hours while her peers were having a great time playing with the ball. There was another reason too. “Oh my god! So beautiful!” She immediately let go of Shadow Weaver’s hands and ran towards a girl with heterochromatic eyes. “Why are your eyes like that?” She pointed at the girl’s blue and golden eyes, distracting the girl and causing her to be hit by a ball. But she didn’t seem to be hurt by it. Her cheeks and ears immediately turned red as she backed up a little. She stood there, staring at the blonde and not being able to answer her question._

_“Catra!” One of the kids shouted at her._

_“Oh…I am sorry. Did it hurt?” Adora asked, hoping the kid, apparently, her name was Catra, would talk to her. Catra shook her head. “So why are your eyes like that?” Adora asked again with pure curiosity. “They are so pretty.” She added when she saw her question made the other kid upset._

_“Oh…Thank you? And, uh, I don’t know why. They’ve always been like this. And I don’t think they are pretty. People say I am weird and ugly.”_

_Adora frowned with the words she heard. Shadow Weaver would always say every child is beautiful and saying the opposite is extremely rude and cruel. She now understood why it was like that, seeing the other girl’s sadness. “No, they are wrong! You have beautiful eyes.” She kissed the girl’s cheek, causing the other one to run away with even more blushed cheeks. “Catra where are you going? Let’s be friends!” She intended to run after the girl, but someone held her by the t-shirt._

_“Adora, what are you doing? Let Catra do her work and wait on the bench, please. Also, she’s not really friendly.”_

_“No! She’s cute and I want to play with her. Let me play.” Adora was a kid too, after all. She was ready to cry if Shadow Weaver didn’t let her. Plus, she wanted to be friends with Catra so bad and getting rejected like that hurt her little heart. Soon, she started to throw a tantrum, causing the woman to panic as she had never seen the blonde like that before. She would still blame it on Catra, even after all those years._

_“Let her play. If she has talent, she can be a part of the team.” A third party entered the conversation. Adora stopped crying and held onto her stepmother, being scared by the guy._

_“But you already have enough players for the youth team.”_

_Hordak smiled, “More players won’t hurt. Just let her play and if she has talent, she will be a part of the team. If you don’t want it, you can leave with her now…permanently.” His smile grew bigger._

_“Okay. She can play but she knows nothing about football. So I don’t think she-“ Said, Shadow Weaver, not wanting to say something negative about Adora while she was near her. “Go and play with the kids, darling.” And she was wrong in the end. After learning about the basics, what she was supposed to do, Adora aced the game. Her shoots were stronger than most of the other kids’ and her passes were almost on point. The Horde won their captain and number 10 that day._

_And Catra made her first and very stubborn friend._

“Hey, Catra!” _Communication is the key._ Adora approached her friend, while they were warming up before the match. “So you left my message on seen and it’s not like I didn’t sleep for hours, waiting for another message from you but I just-“

“Can you speak slowly please?” Catra, surely, didn’t know the power of a caffeinated gay. 

Adora took a deep breath as she reminded the importance of communication to herself. “I thought you would apologize to me and we’d be best friends again. So, I was waiting for another message from you.” She watched Catra’s different colored eyes changing from surprised to angry. She’s always loved those eyes although they weren’t really friendly now. She had the look of an enemy in her eyes.

“Why would I apologize? You are the one who should be apologizing!”

“And I did! Can you put your stupid pride away and accept my apology and be my best friend again!” She was starting to feel angry as well. _Why am I being this nice to her anyway?_

“No, Adora. I won’t be your incompetent sidekick. I will create my own way, my own name. I don’t want to be your friend anymore. Go keep making fun of me with your friends.” 

Their dialogue was getting a lot of attention from outside, as some players stopped warming up and started listening to them instead. Scorpia was one of those players. She decided to approach them and lighten up the mood. But when she saw Perfuma walking towards the old friends, she panicked and gave up on this plan. 

Meanwhile, Catra and Adora were still fighting. “Why would I make fun of you? I love you…” The players watching them like a telenovela gasped loudly. “…as a friend. You are my best friend.” Adora added as she held Catra’s hand. “I’m trying to solve our problem. Because you are important to me. I don’t consider you as a sidekick, Catra. Trust me.” 

“Adora-“ Perfuma intended to talk and warn them before getting cut off by Shadow Weaver’s voice.

“Adora, please stay away from her and focus on the match. You wouldn’t want to be distracted on your first match, right?” But it was almost like her words didn’t matter to Adora, as her looks were fixated on Catra.

Catra, on the other hand, was looking at Shadow Weaver. Her words echoed in her brain. A distraction, she’s always been to Adora. A plague, ready to infect her. Always the second best, the less talented one. The one who didn’t have a loving mother and watched Shadow Weaver showering the blonde with affection. Always the less important one, easy to leave behind. She needed Adora to feel loved. Without her she was nothing, other players sometimes would say. When she scored, Shadow Weaver would congratulate Adora for the assist, not her for the actual goal. _And she doesn’t even love me like she claimed to do. If she did, she would stay. She wouldn’t leave me alone._ “Why would I trust you? You broke your promise. Stop pretending to care. You only care about your own dreams.” She said, weakly. An unexpected laugh filled her ears. Adora was laughing.

“I can’t believe you! You are so selfish!” Now it was time for Glimmer and Perfuma to intervene. They pulled the angry blonde away, who was shouting like crazy. “You are a liar too! You lied about dabbing! I know you didn’t invent it now!”

“Good job genius!” 

“Stop!” Shadow Weaver shook her shoulders. “Go back to your side and do your warming.” Catra wished it wasn’t this easy for her to see the disgust on Shadow Weaver’s face. But of course, she was born to suffer. She took one last glance from Adora before joining her teammates. 

***

Kyle was live on another show he was hosting, _The Horde Today._ Rogelio was joining him as a commentator. “Let’s see the starting elevens.” The line-ups appeared on the screen by the time he finished his sentence. 

_Rebels United_

_Kim Hyunjin_

_Glimmer Mara Mermista_

_Perfuma Spinnerella_

_Sooyoung Netossa Olivia Hye Heejin  
  
_ _H.Schafer_

_The Horde FC_

_Lonnie_

_Octavia Haseul Choerry Vivi_

_Jinsoul  
Chuu Scorpia Gowon Minaj  
_ _  
Z.Coleman_

“The match is about to start…We hope we don’t lose 5-0 this time.” Rogelio shared his very wise words with the audience. 

“And Lonnie starts the match, passes the ball to Oct- Oh never mind, Spinnerella with the ball now, she goes…”

At the same time at the pitch, two girls were stealing glances from each other. None of them was paying great attention to what was happening in the field. Their looks were so fiery that they could melt the whole planet. And Shadow Weaver was against global warming as she decided to cut the tension by standing between them. Now the girls’ visions were closed by an old woman’s butt. Not very pleasingly, they remembered the game and turned their heads to the pitch to see the Horde’s goalkeeper Coleman pulling off a great save. She jumped and kicked the ball to the corner.

_“Mara Grayskull will use the corner. The ball flies. A header! Scorpia clears the ball!”_

The first half was almost over and the Horde players were trying to spend time. Minaj laid the ball forward her teammate, Gowon. Gowon moved with the ball, only to pass it back to Scorpia. And Scorpia sent it to their goalkeeper Coleman. “Good job! One minute left!” Shadow Weaver shouted, trying to encourage them. Catra frowned with the reality hitting her hard: the Horde was worse than she even thought. They were calling this ugly thing “football.” She shifted in her chair, straightening her posture. She couldn’t wait to be replaced by Lonnie, in the second half. 

“Am I going in?” She asked once the first half was over. 

“No. Not yet.” The coach was cold but the word “yet” gave her hope. Then again, Shadow Weaver was the coach so… Catra never thought she would let her personal problem take over and keep her on the bench and maybe she should’ve.

_“Oh, there is a new player on the pitch. Adora Weaver replaces Mara Grayskull.” Kyle said with an excited voice. “What do you think? Is she gonna crush us?”_

_“Absolutely!” Once again, Rogelio shared his wise ideas with the audience._

The blonde tied up her hair quickly before the second half started. She passed the ball to Glimmer. Rebels’ attack started as Catra watched it with an unpleasant look. “Adora! Adora! Adora!” She was startled with the sudden chants coming from stands. Her eyes followed the source and found a few girls screaming their asses off. They were holding banners with Adora’s name written on and followed by many hearts. _Since when…she has fangirls?_ Jealousy filled her, pulsing through every part of her body. She was jealous of the fact that she had fans. Just that. 

In the field, Adora was surprised too. She froze up for a second and Scorpia took the ball from her, passing it back to the goalkeeper. The Horde was determined to bag a draw, for sure. _Great start Adora!_ The blonde thought, mentally slapping her face. She’s already made her first mistake. 

_“Mermista in possession now, oh- A shoot! She’s skied it.” Rogelio said._

“Twenty minutes left only. Replace Lonnie with me!” Catra couldn’t wait anymore, realizing it’s already 70’. Shadow Weaver put a smirk on her face.

“You won’t play Catra. You’ll never play. You’ll always watch everything from the bench. You really thought you’d make it without Adora? I will ruin your career.” She looked away, focusing on the game. “This is what you deserve for being disrespectful to me and a bad example to my Adora.” 

The whole world fell apart at that moment. Catra sank into her chair, feeling too weak to protest. Her vision became blurry with tears. Waiting for weeks only to receive this humiliation, to find out she will be a failure. “Adora! Adora!” The chants became louder in her ears, they hurt. “Adora! Adora!” It was like they were in Catra’s brain. She couldn’t hear anything other than this name.

In the studio at the same time, Kyle and Rogelio were celebrating. “We lost 2-0 today!” 

Adora didn’t know how she found the nets two times, but there she was, scoring two goals and winning the match. Now it was the whole stadium shouting her name. Her friends were hugging her, celebrating. Even Mara Grayskull ran from the bench to hug her. She saw this scene in her dreams, very often. But now it was real. Adora couldn’t believe it. Then her eyes somehow found her ex-best friend who had zero minutes today. “Adora! Adora!” Chants felt bittersweet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm open to constructive criticism! Let me know what you think about the fic. And also you can follow me on twitter if you want. My twt: @Jigeumun_


	5. Messing with the order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra & Hordak bonding over their similarities  
> Entrapta says hi  
> The next chapter will be important

Picture of a happy family Hordak saw in his wallet. A picture of his family that does not include him. His father Horde Prime, has never been a fan of taking pictures. Especially when his youngest son Hordak asked. He carefully placed the picture back in its original place after looking one last time at his father. “I won’t fail you. You’ll be proud of me.” 

He remembered so many times, his brothers succeeded at something. Horde Prime would embrace them, smiling and showering them with compliments. And Hordak would just watch them from a distance with growing jealousy. He was never the first place, neither in the family nor the school nor the business. Ten years ago he was determined to change that. He was good at Football Manager, so he could be good at real-life football too. He had a simple tactic in the game: find talented players and let them shine. This would work in real life too. Buy an amateur team, invest in the youth academy, win the biggest cup in a few years. It was simple in the game. 

He checked his watch before heading out. 

It wasn’t simple. He failed. And he accepted his fate over time, after the years full of losses. He was always going to be a failure, he thought to himself after the last week’s friendly match with the Rebels. 

_“You lost again? Well, I am not surprised. I am more surprised about the fact that you still bother me calling before your awful matches.” Then he laughed, not realizing he broke his son’s heart into a million pieces. “You are lucky that I am rich. So that you can play around.”_

_ Without waiting for a response, he ended the call.  _

__

_ Hordak looked at the donuts he bought for the players. Some notes were attached on their cover, saying “You did well!” “Congrats for the victory!” and similar things. He was going to award them with these donuts in case of a surprise victory. “Who cares.” He mumbled as he grabbed the food one by one and ripped the notes off.  _

__

__ That was the day he realized that his team won’t succeed. But also that was the day he had a new seed of hope planted in him. 

_“Congrats! You did well today! Keep working hard.” He, still, handed the donuts. He always did. He loved seeing the kids happy._

__

_ “Why are we celebrating? We lost.” One of the players gave such an unexpected reaction. It reminded Hordak of his father. Never value any place other than the first and any consequence other than a win. He heard similar sentences multiple times, ‘Why are you happy? You lost the contest!’ But his father was never sad, never carried a vulnerable look in his eyes. He was almighty, he was strong and he was repulsed by failure. Unlike this new player who stormed out of the room. Hordak saw it in her eyes. She was weak, she was hurt, and she was ready to cry. His father would never show those.  _

__

_ Without a second thought, he ran after the girl and caught her in the hallway. She was crying. “Why- What-“ He stopped as he didn’t know what to do. Normally, he would be the one crying and people would just choose to ignore. “There. There.” He awkwardly patted the girl’s shoulder.  _

__

_ “Did you buy this team just to be a failure?” She suddenly lifted her head, different colored eyes red from crying. And she was talking like Horde Prime again. As if her mind was controlled by him.  _

__

_ “Let’s go outside and talk kid.” He said, after checking the hallway to see if anyone was listening to them. The girl nodded, still sobbing quietly.  _

__

_ He tried to remember her name their way through the outside. And it didn’t take him so long to remember as she was an outstanding person thanks to her eyes and talent. He also realized Shadow Weaver didn’t give her any chance today. “So Catra, why didn’t you play today? You are not injured, are you?”  _

__

_ Catra let out a hysterical laugh. “Shadow Weaver said she would never let me play and ruin my career.” _

__

_ “Because?” The man asked. He never liked Shadow Weaver but it was hard to convince other coaches to work with him and they asked for so much money. He would rather spend it on youth academy. Also, he was afraid. His father has always said disturbing the order is something terrible. He loved the order. When everything is in order, Hordak doesn’t have to think and fear much.  _

__

_ “Just because she doesn’t like me.” She seemed like crying again for a minute but she frowned instead. “You’ll let her do it, right? And lose your best player. Because you are as incompetent as her. Your stupid project doesn’t work either! You should transfer real players-“  _

__

_ “That’s enough kid! You can’t talk to me like that!” No one could talk to him like that…Except for his father of course and the old man exploited every single chance to humiliate him for sure. _

__

_ “Why? Isn’t it true?” To her surprise, the old man suddenly collapsed, falling onto his knees. She could hear his sobs. “Wait are you crying?” Catra asked in shock. She didn’t expect her words to be this powerful, especially on someone like Hordak. He always gave off nice but cold vibes and he was a rich guy. So she just assumed he didn’t have a fragile heart. To prove her thoughts, she had never seen him care about the team’s situation either. But now seeing him cry…Catra felt nice. She felt powerful. She finally could do more damage than she ever did on Shadow Weaver. She felt important. “Don’t cry.” But as the crying session went on, her joy disappeared. She tried to comfort the man, awkwardly patting his shoulders. Now their roles were totally swapped.  _

__

_ “Look I don’t want to be a failure okay? But I don’t know what to do! I thought this plan would work…I thought real life wouldn’t be different from Football Manager-“ _

__

_ “Wait you played a game and thought I’ll just transfer Maxim Tsigalko and everything will be fine?” Catra snorted, causing the man to stand up and defensively fold his arms.  _

__

_ “No!” Catra looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “That guy was in CM. I never played Championship Manager. That game was old as f-“ He stopped himself as he remembered Catra’s age. If there was one thing he got from his father, it was the way he’d never curse around kids and teens.  _

__

_ Catra laughed again but this time it was a sincere laugh. She wasn’t trying to mock Hordak. And the old man joined her soon.  _

__

_ “So kid…You seem to be better than me at this. I mean look at you…You even played Championship Manager!” He joked as an attempt to lighten up the mood. “What should I do?”  _

__

_ Catra felt so powerful at that moment. Even more powerful than the time the Horde U21 won the cup. She’s seen Hordak hurt by her words, crying and now asking for her help. She didn’t need Adora or Shadow Weaver. Her eyes went dark as she said. “Fire Shadow Weaver.” _

__

_ “No, I can’t do that… We have a contract…” It was more like he was afraid. Changing of the order. A new coach. Order changes. He doesn’t know what to do. What if that new person fails too? What if that person is scary? Hordak didn’t like Shadow Weaver but he had an impact on her which he loved. He would easily threaten the woman to fire her and next minute she would do anything for him. She would always respect him. In those times Hordak would feel like his father, powerful. “But I can make sure of your place in the team.”  _

__

_ “Fine. But the team still needs some transfers. If you want to succeed and impress your daddy, you need to spend your money on good players.”  _

__

_ Hordak didn’t like this kind of change either. His whole football career depended on the “discover talents-be successful with them-sell them and find new talents” strategy. If he suddenly starts to buy thirty-year-olds, then what was the point of this whole project? “I’ll think about it. I just don’t want to betray our roots.” _

__

_ “Yeah, our roots of losing.”  _

__

__

__ Roots of losing. Hordak could spend some money to change that. He reminded himself, it’s gonna be okay. I settled down with three teams, now I just have to meet ONE manager. It’s gonna be okay. How lucky of me to choose three players who have the same manager? What a beautiful coincidence! He kept thinking, as he walked into the restaurant.

It wasn’t coincidental. Of course, he wanted it that way. Dealing with multiple managers, arguing on the contracts…It was scary. 

“Oh..Shit..” He mumbled upon seeing the manager, sitting in her chair and seeming bored. He speeded up, wondering if he was late. “I am sorry. Am I late?” It was impossible, he checked his watch multiple times on his way to here. 

The woman smiled, wiping away Hordak’s worries. _Oh, she has a beautiful smile._ “Actually, I came early.” She reached forth, still smiling. Hordak shook her hand before grabbing a chair. 

Hordak’s lips formed a smile. He was relieved, maybe more than he should’ve been. This woman had something different in her whole aura. She didn’t have that judgmental look on her face. Her eyes didn’t look like she was mocking the guy sitting in front of her. Maybe that was why Hordak was so relaxed. “So,” Still, his voice cracked a little bit, enough to make him feel embarrassed. “How are you?” 

“I am fine, thank you. You are nice so this is a plus for you.” Maybe Hordak was very early to think she wasn’t judgmental. He watched the manager taking some notes _. What if he messes up?_ “I’d like to get into business immediately if that is also okay for you?” 

Now his hands were starting to sweat.

“Yes of course Entrapta-“ The woman suddenly tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “…Dryll.” Hordak awkwardly added her last name. That’s why he hated meeting new people. He knew he would screw up eventually. And he kept on going inside with the self-hating. But Entrapta just smiled.

“Oh, you can just say Ms. Dryll!” 

“Okay. Miss Dryll.” 

“So,” Entrapta started again, “Mr. Prime, I guess we are on board with the wages. But I’d like to know about the Horde’s atmosphere. As far as I know, there’s been no openly LGBT player in the team. Why?” She lifted her eyes from her notes, pointing them to the chairman. 

“Well, I don’t know? Maybe we never had players like that?” He said the first thing that came into his mind. He practiced the meeting in his room before, thinking about the possible questions. He even got Catra’s help. But neither of her questions was like this…Like this specific? 

“That’s not really an acceptable answer for us. Huntara is openly lesbian. Darla is a woman of color who is also an ally for the LGBT community. Emily is a trans woman.” When she stopped, it was like she clicked a button on Hordak’s head to stop his brain from working as well. He just watched the manager went into her notes again. “You didn’t have a solid success in the past ten years. You have potential but my players are currently playing for accordingly good teams. You can provide the money, that’s great but…” Their eyes met again, “If you can’t provide a safe workplace, then what’s the point?” 

“No, no. We appreciate diversity. Our team has women of color. And we are accepting of any members of the LGBT community.” It was both a lie and a fact. He didn’t do something positive for the community in the past but if one of the players came out to him, he wouldn’t care either. Especially if that player is good at their job. He was just a businessman, it wasn’t his job to judge the players’ personal life. So, exaggerating the support, just a little bit, wouldn’t hurt.

“Can you be specific about your support?” 

“Of course, I will! But let’s order something first. I am kinda hungry.” He wasn’t hungry at all. He just had to buy some time to make things up and convince the manager. 

***

_Cause all that it takes is a little reinvention_

_ It's easy to change if you give it your attention _

__

__ Catra found herself humming to this song while she was watching Dear Evan Hansen with Scorpia. She still hated musicals but when she had no other friends than Scorpia and she was bored to death, this fate of watching musicals was impossible to escape. At least this one was dark and she liked the theme. At some point, she even admitted she wished she wrote the book the musical was based on.

“Ohh, if you liked this one we should watch Heathers next!” She said, cheerfully. 

“It’s not like I liked it that much and I hate watching these ‘slime tutorials’. Find a pro-shot like Hamilton or let’s just watch movies instead. These bootlegs are killing me!” She brought her hand to her forehead, pretending to be dying dramatically. She couldn’t let her friend know she enjoyed the thing she’s always called a crap. It would be too embarrassing. But eventually, Scorpia caught her singing Sincerely, Me. 

“It’s nice to know there are musicals you can enjoy.” She was patient to say this once the musical ended. She knew her stubborn friend would keep denying and try to run away. She was right.

“I told you! I didn’t like it!” She stood up after grabbing her phone and headed outside. Her timing was surprisingly on point, as she received a message from Hordak.

_Kid, I need your help. I said something but it can be dumb_

__

_ >What did you say? _

__

__ She thought of the possible scenarios of him screwing up the meeting. But for sure, this wasn’t what she expected:

_ Hordak: I said…a bunch of things about the Horde being an LGBT ally… Like donations and other stuff. I can take care of the donation part but I also said we are going to throw an ‘appreciating the diversity’ themed party. BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO IT SO HELP ME _

__

__

__ Wow, this was heavy. Catra stood there a while, staring at her phone screen for a couple of minutes. Maybe it’d be better if she talked to Scorpia about it. 

_  
_  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story goes a little bit slow for now but after the next chapter, things will go faster


	6. Living room routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak rocks his dress and Adora has an epiphany

_It’s such a shame that I won’t be able to join my teammates for the party- thanks to my homework! But I really hope that you guys have fun!_

This was the description of Frosta’s last Instagram post. Adora liked it and put her phone down, turning her face to a smiling Glimmer. “So what are you wearing for the party? And you have your _straight_ flag ready, right?” 

Adora threw a quick glance at the little, grey-black flag laying on the edge of her bed. “Yeah. I think I’ll wear a red dress. I mean…I don’t have any other dress and it’s comfortable.” She stood up and picked the red dress from her drawer, showing it to Glimmer. 

“Okay then. Hurry! We all will meet in Bright Moon Café and go to the party together. So be there at 6.” 

With that, she left the room. And the blonde was alone in her room, with her terrifying thoughts. First of all, she felt like she didn’t really belong there like she shouldn’t go to that party. Sure, it was an open call from the Horde, to all players of all sexualities in the Etheria Super League. It didn’t matter if you were hetero or pan or anything. You had to be supportive of the community and that was it. And everybody had to bring the flag of their community to represent if they are comfortable with putting labels. Adora’s label was heterosexual although she didn’t really pick the flag confidentially. 

“Hi, straight Adora.” She looked at herself in the mirror, wearing the red dress and holding the little flag. “God. This is weird.” Of course, talking to yourself while looking at a mirror was weird. But deep down she knew the word straight made it weirder. _Straight Adora._ It just didn’t feel right. 

And there was another thing: the fact that Hordak was the one throwing this party. Aside from Shadow Weaver’s heavily anti-gay propaganda, the Horde never had any approach towards the LGBT community. 

_Can’t wait for the party!_

And this was from Catra’s Instagram post. It was posted a few minutes ago with a single picture of Scorpia doing a peace sign, wearing a black dress obviously for the party. It was clearly a bad idea for Adora to take her phone again. Now she was feeling even weirder. And the worst part, she couldn’t even tell why. 

“Why would I not tell? It’s because…” She talked to the mirror once again, pointing her finger to it as if she was threatening herself. “Because she hates me and is so head over heels for this Scorpia girl! Is she really a better friend than me?” She didn’t even realize she was shouting until she finished the sentence.

Of course, this wasn’t it. She was also angry that Catra didn’t post a picture of herself. The blonde was deadly curious about her outfit and…the flag she’ll use. She would also bring a straight flag right? Adora would definitely know if she were different. So, she only tried to imagine what Catra would wear for the party. 

***

“What? You are wearing a suit with a purple shirt. You can’t judge me.” Hordak’s self-defense to Catra was pretty much of an answer to Adora. Catra chose a suit for the party, trying to fix her bow tie. In the end, she gave up and left the bow tie loose. She brushed her newly cut hair with her fingers. She was still trying to adjust to her tomboy hairstyle. Adora wasn’t the only one who was feeling odd after all.

“I am not judging you…I am just surprised.” She eyed the man head to toes. His outfit wasn’t really ordinary as it was a long black dress. His shaved chest was showing itself in the cleavage of the dress. Catra shrugged in her tenth attempt to adjust to the situation. 

“Hey! I am proud of both of you!” Scorpia said, with her already teary eyes. She hugged both Catra and Hordak as she continued, “It’s so cool that you two are breaking the norms! No, actually tonight we are breaking the norms, together.” A happy smile formed on her face and then she looked at Hordak. Her eyes carried a visible amount of gratitude. “Thank you.” 

This was the thing that made Hordak realize something: He was happy at that moment. He was free. At first, he thought he was doing it for the sole purpose of impressing Entrapta. He remembered his childhood, he’s always liked dresses and makeup but never dared to try them. He was scared of his father. He was scared of losing masculinity. But right now, at this exact moment, he felt great in his dress. He was still a man, still a straight guy. He was powerful, he could embrace his femininity. And what he was doing meant something to people. He had a positive impact on people. 

“Oh my god! Can you two stop crying! You are gonna ruin your makeup!” Catra warned them, slightly annoyed. But this was just because she was nervous, trying to hold her own tears back. She didn’t even have a label but that moment touched somewhere deep inside her. 

“Oh, Shadow Weaver is calling,” Hordak said before sending the call right into voicemail. “Let’s torture her and have fun. Her homophobia is gonna be shaking.” He laughed. Catra and Scorpia weren’t judging him about Shadow Weaver anymore. They were spending more time together recently and they started to understand the man more. Maybe in the future, he would be more confident to replace her. “She would be calling her daughter now to question her. Poor kid. _Do not go! If you go stay away from LGBT kids! You are bringing your straight flag, right?”_ His impersonation was on point as Shadow Weaver literally said all those words to Adora at some point. Scorpia chuckled while Catra just gave a weak smile. 

“Let’s go if you are ready.” Both girls nodded as Hordak led them to the backseat. “Don’t forget your seatbelts!” 

Catra was glad for her friendship with Hordak. But at moments liked this one, he was behaving like a father and Catra wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. For the most, it felt…just strange. Having someone older who cares about you like a parent…

“So we’ll stop by to pick up Miss Dryll,” Hordak warned them a few minutes later, tearing Catra apart from her thoughts only to make her go deeper later. 

“Oh my god! You like her!” This was the key sentence that hit Catra hard. Scorpia probably said without even thinking. She was cheerful. But it made Catra feel like meeting her divorced parent’s new love interest. _This gets weirder._

“It’s not like I like LIKE her. But maybe I do… I don’t know. We’ll see. Maybe you can help me.”

“Of course. We got your back!” She forced a smile, trying to be supportive. And it was crazy how just in a few weeks he got to know her so well.

“Are you upset?” He said, drawing Scorpia’s attention to Catra as well.

“Oh, she’s definitely upset!” 

Catra tried to deny it multiple times but she had to confess as Hordak stopped the car in the middle of the road. “Okay… It’s just that… You’ll date this person and you know… Then stop being my friend.” _Oh, it’s getting worse. I shouldn’t even h-_

“No! You always have me, y’ know!” Scorpia said as she hugged Catra, so tightly that the little one almost couldn’t breathe. _Here we go._ Scorpia never understood her anyway. Catra was glad for her company but it just wasn’t enough for her. She wanted someone like Hordak or the old Adora. To be someone’s most important person. The first one to call. Scorpia was a social butterfly. Catra didn’t feel special. 

“Kid, you are my best friend. I am glad that you scolded me that day. If it weren’t for you, I couldn’t have done this.” He showed off his dress proudly. “We’ll always be friends.” 

Catra smiled, “I’m glad to hear that. You rock that dress.” 

Seconds later the car was moving again. And when it stopped, there was a woman walking towards the car this time. She was short, looking younger than she probably was. “Hi, Miss Dryll.” Hordak greeted her.

“You can call me Entrapta.” She presented a sincere smile as she sat beside the guy. Her eyes lingered over his dress. “Nice dress!” With another sincere compliment, Hordak’s anxious thoughts left his mind. 

“Thank you, Entrapta.” And of course, he couldn’t miss his first chance to call the manager by her first name. “You look really nice too!” 

They were painful to watch for Catra while Scorpia was watching them with heart-shaped eyes. This time she wasn’t really jealous or afraid. These two grown-ups were so cheesy. Catra couldn’t imagine herself like them. Even loving someone didn’t seem possible to Catra and doing all this? Blushing while awkwardly complimenting the other person? Hell no! 

“By the way, meet Catra and Scorpia. They are like my daughters.” 

_daughter._

Catra’s mind stopped working and she literally couldn’t think anything other than this word. And now those weird thoughts were back. But now she knew she felt another thing: she liked that word. And it made her happy. 

She was happy. 

Until Scorpia decided to interrupt her happy thoughts when they got to the party. “You kids go first. We’ll join you in a few minutes.” Hordak said this, giving them a chance to be alone. That was when Scorpia touched Catra’s arm and asked that question.

“The things you said in the car…” Catra raised an eyebrow, waiting for whatever her friend was about to say. “I feel like you feel the same about Adora. You are mad that she accepted that offer and has other friends now. Maybe she can say the same thing Hordak said. Don’t you wanna talk to her?” 

The blood boiled inside Catra. “No! It’s not the same, okay? She betrayed our promise and friendship. The years of friendship. She would know and fight harder to win me back if she wanted.” She hated the fact that she had to explain this simple thing in detail. Wasn’t it common sense? And now her happiness ran away from her body. Those ‘Adora!’ chants replaced it, filling her ears. “I don’t even want to see her dumb face now.” She wasn’t ready to face her right now. To see her victorious smile, her friends mocking the Horde. And she thought she had a great chance at escaping since the party was too crowded. 

But of course, when was Catra lucky? The second thing she saw after entering the party was Adora, standing there and laughing with her friends. She’s never liked dresses or at least that’s what she told Catra after Shadow Weaver forced her to wear one. Maybe it was a lie. Maybe Adora was always a kid pretending to be a rebel but who, in fact, was a princess. _Was she always this…curvy?_ She didn’t know if it was the true word to describe her body but Adora seemed so mature. Catra felt weird, again. She didn’t even realize she was staring at her until Scorpia pointed out the obvious.

“Oh, she’s here.” Catra threw her a death glare. “I meant Perfuma.” Yep, Scorpia’s crush was right beside the blonde, holding a pansexual flag. Scorpia lifted her lesbian flag, smiling. 

Catra’s eyes looked for Adora’s flag. She was surprised not to be able to see it before, while her eyes were lingering over Adora’s body. It was wrapped around her wrist, that colorless flag. Catra wasn’t disappointed or anything. Why would she be? The amount of fucks she gave was zero. Although her heart disagreed as it sank for some reason. And to make the situation worse, the blonde suddenly turned her face to her ex-best friend and caught her. Catra froze for a second, watched Adora’s eyes go wide as her smile faded away. 

“Let’s go.” Catra didn’t want to see her. Not after that loss especially. She felt sick to her stomach as she pulled Scorpia with her, escaping their previous place. 

“How are you guys with Huntara?” 

When Hordak and Entrapta approached them with the new player a few minutes later, Catra was still thinking about Adora and how she could avoid her. And Scorpia was probably thinking about the opposite thing: how she could talk to Perfuma. 

“We met and we are okay, I guess?” Huntara said, looking at the very lost girls. Scorpia was the first one to abandon her thoughts as she answered, “Yeah, we are fine.”

Then Catra joined her, “Same.” This was far from genuine. She didn’t like the twenty-four-year-old player. Huntara was a great defender but Catra didn’t like her braggy self. 

“Why don’t we dance?” When Entrapta suggested, the song ended. This caused chuckles from the other ones, lightening up the mood a bit. 

Another song started playing.

“Oh my god! They are playing good music!” Hordak cheerfully shouted. Catra rolled her eyes.

“Well, you chose most of these songs. Why are you surprised?” 

“Yeah, but I got you guys’ help too.” He shrugged. “So, living room routine?” 

“What the hell is that?” Catra wasn’t really an expert in pop culture. Hordak shrugged again, not wanting to explain the reference to her. 

“Let’s dance!” Hordak pulled her and Scorpia to the center while Entrapta was doing the same thing to Huntara. 

_Wow, he got some moves_ was what Catra thought to herself after Hordak started dancing. Catra wasn’t a bad dancer herself as she discovered a few days ago when Scorpia insisted on learning some dances from La La Land. She didn’t totally succeed at learning, but it was fun trying and again: she wasn’t that bad either. But right now seeing Hordak’s moves, she was totally amazed by him as the only thing she could do was swaying her hips a little right now. 

The song kept going:

_Come on, Eileen, oh I swear (what he means)_

_At this moment, you mean everything_

_You in that dress, my thoughts I confess_

_Verge on dirty_

_Ah, come on, Eileen_

“Come on! Have some soul!” Hordak cheered, grabbing Huntara and Entrapta’s hands. 

Catra felt two hands reaching for hers too. Scorpia and Entrapta gave her assuring smiles.

“Woohoo!” Scorpia screamed as they all spun around, holding hands. It looked probably weird from the outside but Catra forgot about the outside world for a moment, even after they let go of each other’s hands. Even when Hordak and Entrapta started doing a couple dance and Catra was back with her little swaying hips dance. It was entertaining.

Until that strawberry blonde decided to ruin it again.

The song slowed down while Scorpia totally stopped dancing.

_Come on, Eileen, too rye aye_

_Come on, Eileen, too rye aye_

_Now you're full grown_

_Now you have shown_

_Oh, Eileen_

Catra followed her eyes and saw Perfuma walking towards them with Adora beside her. She was doing some peculiar dance while walking. She looked like a big penguin, shaking her head like that. Catra would laugh if she didn’t have anger and other emotions mixed together in a bowl. 

The song started to get fast again when Hordak and Entrapta realized the existence of the new girls. “Hey!” He offered his hand to Adora. _Here we go. The holding hands session._ At least this time Catra was lucky and didn’t have to hold Adora’s hands as she grabbed Huntara’s and Scorpia’s. Huntara was better than Adora for some reason. 

_Said, come on, Eileen_

_These things they are real and I know_

_How you feel_

_Now I must say more than ever_

_Things 'round here have changed_

_I say, too ra loo ra, too raloo rye aye_

Avoid her. Catra kept reminding herself. She must find a way to escape, find a place far from the blonde. On the other hand, she just couldn’t. Even if now the song ended and her hands were free. She just stood there, watching Adora. Seeing her up close, she confessed the fact that she wasn’t just mature. She was beautiful. The word beautiful couldn’t even be enough to describe her. Her body, her face…Pure perfection. Catra felt insecure and inferior. 

She looked away when Adora’s eyes caught her once again. She tried to give her attention to Scorpia, who was busy with her first flirt attempt. 

“You know I want you. It’s not a secret I try to hide.” She blurted out, looking at Perfuma. Catra panicked with her very direct words that also came off creepy. Scorpia looked like she kind of regretted it too. 

“It’s from The Greatest Showman, right? I love that movie and song!” But Perfuma had sparkles in her eyes as she said this. “You wanna hang out with me?” And when she asked this question, both Scorpia and Catra were ready to die. One from happiness and the other one from the shock. 

This didn’t make sense. Just a stupid lyric from a song and Scorpia got the girl. Catra rolled her eyes very hard, watching them leave. 

“Oh, a slow song to dance. Shall we?” And Catra’s other friend Hordak was busy flirting with Huntara’s manager.

Catra threw a glare at Huntara real quick before she, helplessly, faced Adora. She was right calling her strawberry blonde before. Now, Adora’s cheeks carried the same color as the strawberries. “What? Don’t you have friends?” 

“I-I… Yeah. Dance? You and me? Maybe?” It was Catra’s first time hearing Adora like this. And the blonde was also having a very difficult time maintaining their eye-contact. She didn’t know what it was but she liked it. Maybe she shouldn’t be the one running away, it should be Adora. She decided to play along.

“Okay, but don’t think you are forgiven.” Without a warning, she placed her hands around Adora’s waist. “Is this okay?” Her breathe hit the blonde’s neck as she whispered. 

“Yeah… Your haircut looks ho-good on you.” 

Catra didn’t really buy her compliment. Especially when she thought about why she got her haircut…One sleepless night after the friendly match. She needed her friend to play with her hair. But of course, she was probably with her new friends celebrating their victory. It was at that moment Catra hated her hair and decided to get rid of it. But Adora didn’t need to know how weak she was making Catra.

“Yeah. I rock, right?” She said, trying to be as confident as possible. 

Adora’s movements slowed down, later she totally froze. Her eyes carried something different in her eyes. They were like discovering every part of the brunette’s face. “I have to go.” 

Their dance didn’t even last for a minute when Adora said that dumb sentence and ran away. Catra’s hands felt empty as she slowly brought down them. _Wow, am I that scary? Disgusting? Bad at dancing? Unbearable? Maybe that’s why she left me in the first place._ Adora was really good at making Catra feel miserable. 

“She didn’t like dancing with you. Maybe I should try it. She’s cute.” Huntara said, tearing Catra apart from her thoughts. 

Catra chuckled. “I don’t think so. Didn’t you see her flag? She’s het. You don’t have a chance with her.” The truth is, nobody has a chance with Adora. Nobody was perfect as her. She’d leave behind every guy who tried a relationship with her at some point. And a girl? Zero chance. Adora was born to make the others feel incompetent. 

“I didn’t see any flag.” With Huntara’s words, Catra realized the blonde didn’t have any flag while they were dancing. Actually, the flag wasn't with her from the moment she came along with Perfuma. “So I’ll flirt with her.” 

Catra watched Huntara following Adora. This also made something to her heart. If only she knew what it was…

***

“So how did it go?” Mermista asked when she saw Adora approaching them. She didn’t need her answer though, as her face was very telling. “Oh never mind, you screwed it up.” 

“Yeah, I did…” 

To be honest, Adora didn’t expect having an epiphany tonight. But she did.

_The second she saw Catra with her suit and new hairstyle, all she could think of was “Wow. She’s so hot and beautiful. Wow. Wow.” Turns out, she said all these words loudly enough for her friends to hear. And then there was her very honest body language. Her wide eyes, parted lips, blushed cheeks. She even put a hand on her heart, beating fast._

_“Adora, don’t you think it’s time to confess?” Glimmer said. She knew it for a very long time._

_“I like her.” The words came out of her mouth very naturally. As if she’d been practicing it, looking at a mirror. It was the opposite of what she’d been doing actually. She’d say “I don’t like her.” But this time she couldn’t fool anyone. Not even herself._

_Perfuma pulled the straight flag from her wrist, with a smile. “Well, Glimmer was right then. We all were waiting for you to face your sexuality. You don’t need this anymore.”_

_“What do I do now?”_

_“You are going to hug us first.” Perfuma said, gaining a loud ‘ugh’ from Mermista but she was also the first one to embrace the blonde. Glimmer joined her._

_“We are so proud of you.”_

It was Perfuma’s idea, approaching the dancing group. So that Adora could try to connect with Catra. Plus, Perfuma could flirt with Catra’s cute friend too. Win-win situation, according to Mermista. The plan only worked for Perfuma in the end. 

Adora was losing her ability to process, the longer she stayed around Catra. And when they started to dance together, when Catra held her close…Her hands on Adora’s waist, her face so close to Adora’s neck. Adora was just about to blow up. She even thought of kissing her right at that moment, with everyone around. This scared her. She’d never imagined something this brave before. She’d imagine getting close to Catra but would stop herself immediately. Maybe that was how she stayed sane with her feelings. But now…it was so hard to keep herself back.

“I have to go.” That’s why she said this and just escaped Catra's intoxicating presence. 

“It’s okay Adora. Things will be better.” Glimmer patted her shoulder. “So what about her flag?” 

“She didn’t have any flag. Maybe she’s questioning it like me…maybe she doesn’t feel comfortable with labels. And maybe she just didn’t care or forget. There are so many possibilities.” She covered her face with her hands. Suddenly everything felt even more impossible. 

“Hey, blondie.” A third party entered the conversation, interrupting the best friend squad’s plan on intervention. “Remember me?”

Adora faced the muscular woman. She knew her from the field. And she also saw the news about her signing with the Horde. “Huntara, right?” The woman gave a nod, followed by a smile. “And I am Adora.” 

“Yeah, I’ve heard about you. You will be a good rival, I guess.” Adora felt flattered with her compliment. Getting acknowledged by one of the best players in the league was always something she’d dreamed of. “You wanna dance?” But this one was unexpected. 

She looked at Glimmer and Mermista who were already approving. “O-okay?” 

Then they danced. It was crazy how easy it was dancing with her to Adora. She wished it was this easy with Catra as well. Why wasn’t it? She knew the answer but in the past, being close didn’t bother them this much. It was relaxing and exciting. This like-love stuff was so hard to understand. 

Catra didn’t understand it either, why Adora was dancing with Huntara when she saw them together. She didn’t see a spark in her eyes, suggesting she liked her. Well, she wouldn’t like her. Catra saw her straight flag at the beginning of the night. Then why was Adora allowing Huntara to touch her like that? Her hands were on Adora’s hips. _Way too low!_ And Adora caught her again. It was like she had an alarm whenever Catra watched her from a distance. It was annoying. 

Catra hated this party so much. 

And Huntara was whispering some compliments now which Adora didn’t really feel flattered by. “I am sorry. I feel a little bit dizzy.” She pulled herself away from the tall woman’s touch. 

“Do you wanna sit?” She couldn’t tell if Huntara cared about her for real or if she was just trying to be nice. Either way, it didn’t matter to Adora.

_Catra._

She was the only thing Adora could think of. And _will be_ the only thing on her mind. “I don’t feel like dancing… I will just catch up with my friend. I’m sorry.” She was running again. But this time it was to catch Catra, she wasn’t running away from her. 

It was too late. 

She couldn’t find her anywhere.

_To: Catra <3 _

_I like you. Can you come back/_

_I like you. Can y/_

_ >I had fun tonight. I hope we can be friends again_

She only sent the last message.

Which, later, Catra left on seen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, Hordak was referencing to the Come On Eileen scene from The Perks of Being A Wallflower.
> 
> I really appreciate feedback so please let me know what do you think<3


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